1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

Take immediate action to stop the Israeli "settler" programs in the occupied West Bank. This is terrorism, plain and simple. The UN human rights office warns that settler attacks and settlement expansion are at an all-time high. Settlers are attacking Palestinians, burning homes and vehicles, demolishing houses, stealing land, destroying farms and water sources, and forcing entire communities from their homes. These settlers do not act alone. They operate with the full support, protection, and frequent participation of the Israeli military. The IDF escorts settlers, protects them from accountability, blocks Palestinian communities from defending themselves, and arrests or attacks Palestinians who resist. Settler violence is not separate from the occupation—it is one of the occupation’s tools. Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is already illegal under international law. In its July 19, 2024 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice found Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful and said it must end, settlement activity must stop, and settlers must be evacuated. U.S. weapons, money, technology, and diplomatic protection help sustain this system. Congress must: Suspend U.S. weapons and military assistance used by Israeli forces operating in the West Bank. Enforce the Leahy Laws, Arms Export Control Act, and Foreign Assistance Act against Israeli units implicated in killings, torture, demolitions, forced displacement, collective punishment, or the protection and participation of settler violence. Ban U.S. funding or support for settlements, outposts, annexation, land theft, home demolitions, settler militias, and forced displacement. Reject any legislation that merges, integrates, or expands partnerships between the U.S. and Israeli militaries or military industries. This includes joint weapons production, artificial intelligence, drones, surveillance, cybersecurity, autonomous weapons, missile systems, military research, battlefield data, and defense supply chains. Prohibit U.S. companies, universities, laboratories, and agencies from providing technology used to surveil, target, imprison, displace, or kill Palestinians. Restore and expand sanctions against violent settlers, settlement groups, financiers, Israeli officials, and military commanders who arm, protect, direct, participate in, or incite these attacks. Investigate U.S.-based organizations funding settlements or settler violence and end their tax-exempt status. Hold emergency hearings on coordination between settlers and the IDF and publicly identify the units, officials, commanders, contractors, and U.S.-supplied weapons involved. Demand an immediate end to settlement expansion, demolitions, land seizures, military reprisals, collective punishment, and forced displacement. Demand that Israel end its unlawful occupation and comply with the ICJ ruling. Do not wait for another village to burn or another Palestinian family to be driven from its home. Stop arming the occupation. Stop funding the settlements. Reject U.S.–Israel military integration. End U.S. complicity now.